2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup
Updated: 1/7/2026, 2:02:26 PM Wikipedia source
The 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup is the 7th edition of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the AFC for the men's under-23 national teams of Asia. A total of 16 teams are playing in the final tournament. Players born on or after 1 January 2003 are eligible to participate. The tournament is taking place from 6 to 24 January 2026 and it is hosted by Saudi Arabia, who was selected for hosting the upcoming 2027 AFC Asian Cup. 16 teams are competing in the tournament. Qualification took place in September 2025. Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon qualified for the first time. This is the final non-Olympic edition of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup with the competition becoming quadrennial. Japan are the defending champions, having defeated Uzbekistan in the 2024 final.
Infobox
Tables
| Team | Method ofqualification | Date ofqualification | Total timesqualified | Last timequalified | Previous bestperformance |
| Saudi Arabia | Hosts | 1 July 2023 | 7 | 2024 | Winners (2022) |
| Jordan | Group A winners | 9 September 2025 | 7 | 2024 | Third place (2013) |
| Japan | Group B winners | 9 September 2025 | 7 | 2024 | Winners (2016, 2024) |
| Vietnam | Group C winners | 9 September 2025 | 6 | 2024 | Runners-up (2018) |
| Australia | Group D winners | 9 September 2025 | 7 | 2024 | Third place (2020) |
| Kyrgyzstan | Group E winners | 9 September 2025 | 1 | — | — |
| Thailand | Group F winners | 9 September 2025 | 6 | 2024 | Quarter-finals (2020) |
| Iraq | Group G winners | 9 September 2025 | 7 | 2024 | Winners (2013) |
| Qatar | Group H winners | 9 September 2025 | 6 | 2024 | Third place (2018) |
| Iran | Group I winners | 9 September 2025 | 5 | 2022 | Quarter-finals (2016) |
| South Korea | Group J winners | 9 September 2025 | 7 | 2024 | Winners (2020) |
| Syria | Group K winners | 9 September 2025 | 5 | 2020 | Quarter-finals (2013, 2020) |
| China | Best runners-up | 9 September 2025 | 6 | 2024 | Group stage (2013, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2024) |
| Uzbekistan | Second-best runners-up | 9 September 2025 | 7 | 2024 | Winners (2018) |
| Lebanon | Third-best runners-up | 9 September 2025 | 1 | — | — |
| United Arab Emirates | Fourth-best runners-up | 9 September 2025 | 6 | 2024 | Quarter-finals (2013, 2016, 2020) |
| Jeddah | html.skin-theme-clientpref-os od,html.skin-theme-clientpref-os od > }JeddahRiyadhclass=notpageimage| Location of the host cities of the 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup. | |
| Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City | King Abdullah Sports City Hall | |
| Capacity: 24,042 | Capacity: 3,853 | |
| | | |
| Riyadh | ||
| Prince Faisal bin Fahd Sports City | Al-Shabab Club Stadium | |
| Capacity: 22,838 | Capacity: 12,100 | |
| | | |
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
| Saudi Arabia (hosts) Uzbekistan Japan Iraq | South Korea Vietnam Australia Qatar | Thailand Jordan United Arab Emirates Iran | China Syria Kyrgyzstan Lebanon |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Vietnam | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 3 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Saudi Arabia (H) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 3 | |
| 3 | Kyrgyzstan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0 | |
| 4 | Jordan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 0 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Japan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | 3 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Qatar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | United Arab Emirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | Syria | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 0 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Uzbekistan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | South Korea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | Iran | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | Lebanon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Iraq | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Australia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | Thailand | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | China | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Champions | ||
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Runner-up | ||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Third place | ||
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Fourth place | ||
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Eliminated inquarter-finals | ||
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Eliminated ingroup stage | ||
| 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Territory | Rights holder | Ref. |
| Australia | mw- hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output inline dl,.mw-parser-output inline ol,.mw-parser-output inline ul,.mw-parser-output dl dl,.mw-parser-output dl ol,.mw-parser-output dl ul,.mw-parser-output ol dl,.mw-parser-output ol ol,.mw- .mw- hlist dd:last-child ,.mw- hlist dd dd:first-child ,.mw-parser-output dd dt:first-child ,.mw-parser-output dd li:first-child ,.mw-parser-output dt dd:first-child ,.mw-parser-output dt dt:first-child ,.mw-parser-output dt li:first-child ,.mw-parser-output li dd:first-child ,.mw- hlist dd dd:last-child ,.mw-parser-output dd dt:last-child ,.mw-parser-output dd li:last-child ,.mw-parser-output dt dd:last-child ,.mw-parser-output dt dt:last-child ,.mw-parser-output dt li:last-child ,.mw-parser-output li dd:last-child ,.mw- .mw- hlist dd ol>li:first-child ,.mw- Paramount+ | |
| Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Pakistan | tapmad | |
| China | iQIYI Migu Video | |
| Hong Kong | HOY TV | |
| India | FanCode | |
| Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste | MNC Media | |
| Japan | DAZN | |
| South Korea | Coupang Play | |
| Macau | Mplus TDM | |
| Philippines | PFF (Facebook) | |
| Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen | beIN Sports Alkass | |
| Tajikistan | Varzish TV | |
| Thailand | BG Sports (YouTube) | |
| Vietnam | TV360 VTV HTV FPT Play |
References
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- "Pivotal reforms approved by AFC Competitions Committee"https://www.the-afc.com/en/about_afc/cfed/news/pivotal_reforms_approved_by_afc_competitions_committee.html
- the-afc.comhttps://www.the-afc.com/en/national/afc_u23_asian_cup/news/apan_edge_uzbekistan_to_lift_second_title.html
- english.news.cnhttps://english.news.cn/20240504/07e3d9867f774acc8d273bc1d075930e/c.html
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- Asian Football Confederationhttps://www.the-afc.com/en/national/afc_u23_asian_cup.html/news/saudi-arabia-2026-qualifiers-groups-finalised
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